At Fillmore: Live at the Fillmore East (Limited Edition, Live)

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Miles Davis

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For a guy who knocked free jazz, Miles sure let his young players have free reign. More so with his electric bands then the great quartet that disolved in 1969.

The Filmore East shows are clear evidence. These concerts were Miles and his new band fresh off In A Silent Way and B-Brew, and the shows contain snippits of both. But where they are pristine electric jazz in the studio, they are keybored freekouts here, with Chick Corea and Keith Jerret battling it out in a psychadelic noise tornado.

This album is not representative of the full shows, as Teo Marceo edited parts together, sometimes hamhandedly, from all four nights, one night per selection. Such were the limitations on vynal. One wonders if Sony has the full performances in the vaults, and if they can be issued.

Counterpoint to the wonderful freakouts are soft and sublte passages, particually when Miles solos. You can shut your eyes and see him under the red lights that night, turning hippies on to electric jazz confections.

The dynamics here between the players are incredible. Listen to how the bande free associates-musically and verbaly, on the start of the last track. Miles chimes in melodically, settles the young bucks down and then they all blast back into space. You could do this in front of a wide audiance in 1970.

You get the sense listening that the Miles and crew were figuring out this music while playing as much as the listeners were while hearing. This type of sound was new in those days, and the band probe the possibilites. What an edge this gives the album.

The same sequence of tracks was issued on Black Beatuy, recorded at Flmore West as opposed to these Filmore East recodings. Of the two, this is the more probative, played at slower tempos, with more of a curious edge than the rote set in San Fransisco.

These June 1970 performances are the third of three 2 CD sets of Miles Davis at the Fillmore. The other two are It's About That Time and Black Beauty (recorded at the Fillmore West). It features similar material to the other two, and features the same band as Black Beauty with the addition of Keith Jarrett on electric organ.

Like other Miles Davis albums of the 70s, At Fillmore features a lot of Teo Macero's tape manipulation and splicing. But whereas on Bitches Brew and In a Silent Way this technique was very successful, the edits here take music that was never coherent to begin with and make it even more confusing. At Fillmore was edited into four 25 minute medleys from the four sets Miles played on June 17-20. (Titled "Wednesday Miles", "Thursday Miles", etc.) This band could get cooking when they worked into a groove but who really needs a 40 second except of "Bitches Brew"? Another drawback of this recording is Keith Jarrett -- his playing is normally impeccable but here he throws off the equilibrium of the rhythm section. His organ freakouts are pointless and while it's amusing to hear him and Chick Corea duel on electric keyboards, the novelty wears off pretty fast. Most of Steve Grossman's soprano sax solos were edited out: not a big loss. Miles still plays great, and the longer performances, like on "It's About That Time" or "Willie Nelson", are the real highlights. The talented musicians are somehow able to raise this music above mediocrity, but not by much. This is one of the weakest of the 70s Miles Davis releases and shouldn't be picked up until after you've heard It's About That Time and Black Beauty.